198112-Sample.Pdf

Sample file Faithful children of the god, go! Leave this place in the halls of your past, For a future ordained by Zaltec awaits.

Take your children by the hand, priest! Lead them south toward the valley of your future, Where mighty destiny calls.

Now my children claim the world, all! From their island in the sun they send their armies, To gain the final glory for their god.

Sample file Maztica Campaign Set A Journey to the True World by Douglas Niles

Table of Contents Introduction to Maztica ...... 4 History of Maztica ...... 7 Maztican Characters ...... 44 Character Races...... 45 Character Classes ...... 47 Organized Nations ...... 48 Peoples of Maztica ...... 49 Payit ...... 50 Mazticans ...... 51 Dog People ...... 52 Green Folk ...... 53 Character Kits ...... 58 Eagle Knight ...... 59 Jaguar Knight ...... 60 Artisans of Maztican Magic ...... 62 Plumaweavers ...... 63 Hishnashapers ...... 64 The Ball Game ...... 65 Economy and Equipment ...... 66 Maztican Magic ...... 71 Limits ...... 72 Talismans ...... 72 Pluma, Hishna, and the Realms ...... 73 Pluma: Feathermagic ...... 74 Hishna: Talonmagic ...... 83 The Maztican Calendar ...... 93 Index ...... 95

Credits: Design: Douglas Niles Black and White Art: Valerie Valusek Additional Design: Tim Beach Border Art: Ken Frank Editing: Karen S. Boomgarden Cartography: David Sutherland III, Dennis Kauth Cover Art: Fred Fields Typesetting: Tracey Zamagne and Gaye O’Keefe Interior Color Art: Jeff Easley, Doug Beekman Production: Paul Hanchette

This material is protected under the copyright law of the United States of America. Any unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of TSR, Inc. Copyright ©1991 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A. Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobbySample trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by Random Century Group and TSR Ltd.file ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, and FORGOTTEN REALMS are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. BATTLESYSTEM and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

TSR, Inc. TSR Ltd. POB 756 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton Lake Geneva, Cambridge CB1 3LB WI 53147 U.S.A. United Kingdom

1066XXX1501 ISBN 1-56076-084-2 Sample file Introduction to Maztica

Welcome to a land of vast beauty described in many different and fierce savagery; a land of periods, the detail on each would be magnificent opportunities . . . and insufficient for gaming purposes. dark menaces. It is truly a New Therefore, the bulk of the World, only now cast open before information here deals with the the adventurer’s footsteps. True World after its most At least, it is new to those cataclysmic moments, when the adventurers who hail from the future pattern of the place has been Sword Coast, and other known established. Yet it is still a land in the regions of the Forgotten Realms. But early stages of its development, for some, it is the land they have where the influences of mighty always known, the place of their figures—perhaps, player character heritage and ancestry—and now, figures—will go far to shape the the place of their very uncertain type of place that it becomes. future. Campaigns may be set before this Maztica is a land of varying time, especially if DMs wish to cultures, with unique treasures and recreate the tale of the invasion and magics. It is strangely vulnerable to near conquest of Maztica. Flayer the powers of the Old World, yet it is characters who participate in the resilient as well. It bends without initial discovery of the True World breaking to the pressures exerted can exert significant influence as to upon it, and in so doing it combines the nature of these first contacts. the strongest features of its native Alternatively, as a place of no iron cultures with the strongest aspects or steel—no crossbows, wheels or of the invaders. ships—and no horses, Maztica can Journey there now, as creatures create a new source of challenges and cultures come together to make for adventure. The pre-discovery a new place—a land that all types of period of Maztica can be a complete adventurers can call their own. gaming environment in its own right. Time Frame of the True World The Uses of These Books This book —A Journey to the True The land of Maztica, introduced in World —is designed for players and the Maztica trilogy of FORGOTTEN DMs alike. It presents information REALMS® novels, undergoes that is common knowledge to convulsive forces in the telling of inhabitants of Maztica, and easily those tales—forces that change the accessible to its visitors. world, for good or for ill, in many The first, and extensive, portion of significant directions. the book is the history of Maztica. Therefore, the choice of timing is This is a simplified version of a very significant regarding the thousand different legends, though Samplesetting of the game. This, the the closer to the presentfile it gets, the Maztica gaming environment, must more historically accurate it be placed in a specific moment in becomes. In one form or another, it history, for if the land were to be

4 is told and retold throughout the religion in the True World. Also lands of the True World. Obviously, included there are rules for emphasis on the Payit and Nexalan BATTLESYSTEM™ miniatures play cultures shifts depending upon with Maztican armies, as well as where the tale is told, but the several battles drawn from Maztican version recounted here strives to history presented as scenarios. retain an impartial bias in its view of both important cultures. Following the history of Maztica is Shaping the Time World a section on “Characters in the True The ultimate conflict in Maztica World.” This section is relevant for results from the gods (both native Maztican NPCs that the DM will and “imported”) who are require, and also informs players of fundamentally in opposition. This their options for PCs, should they cosmic confrontation is inevitable, begin or enter a Maztican campaign. given the different approaches to The section includes character race religion in Maztica and the rest of and class eligibility, as well as new the Realms. This is perhaps the only proficiencies for Maztican unchanging underlying factor on characters. It also outlines four new which a Maztican campaign is character kits: two variations of the based: the effect of clashing deities Warrior class, Jaguar and Eagle on their followers and on those Knights, and two of the Rogue class, non-believers caught in the conflict. artisans who work the Maztican arts The story of this conflict, as told of feathermagic (pluma) and by the novels, is a topic players and talonmagic (hishna). DMs may wish to play out in a The final section in this book is a campaign. To that end, you should more thorough examination of find the information you need in pluma and hishna, the native this boxed set, though the tale is not Maztican magics. They are powers presented as a gaming adventure. available to clerics of Maztican As this is as much a military tale as deities, as well as to the an epic quest, it is not everyone’s plumaweavers and hishnashapers cup of tea for roleplaying. described in the kits above. New The world of Maztica ends the powers of pluma and hishna are trilogy more or less in a state of broken into spell descriptions. stasis between great forces, not The second book— Maztica under absolute control by one over Alive —is specifically for the DM’s the other. This precarious balance use. It contains information that results in an environment of should be gained by the players continual tension and, through exploration and adventure, consequently, plentiful and includes detailed descriptions opportunities for adventure. of many locations and cultures, as Another characteristic of the land well as introductory hints to what is the abundance of treasure lies beyond the frontiers of the land secreted in various places across its as it was discovered by Cordell and face. This is one of the great draws his Golden Legion. to adventurers from the more SampleThe third book— Gods and “civilized” lands, and even the file Battles —details the deities of terrors awaiting those who would Maztica, and gives an overview of seek the richest treasures do not

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